[Vote for the Fire Here!]
[~back to search page~][~back to Home page~][~back to search page~][~back to Home page~]There!" said Rim, pointing off the starboard bow. "High on the
beach!"
His slave, Cara, in a brief woolen tunic, one-piece, woven
of the wool of the Hurt, sleeveless, barefoot on the deck, graced by his
collar, stood behind him and to his left.
I shaded my eyes. "Glass of
the Builders," I said. Thumock, of the Peasants, standing by me, handed me
the glass.
I opened it, and surveyed the beach.
High on the
beach, I saw two pairs of sloping beams. They were high, large and heavy
structures. The feet of the beams were planted widely, deeply, in the
sand; at the top, where they sloped together, they had been joined and
pegged. They were rather like the English letter "A," though lacking the
crossbar. Within each "A," her wrists bound by wrapped and taut leather to
heavy rings set in the sloping sides, there hung a girl, her full weight
on her wrists. Each wore the brief skins of forest panthers. They were
panther girls, captured.
Their heads were down, their blond hair
falling forward. Their ankles had been tied rather widely apart, each
fastened by leather to iron rings further down the beams.
It was an
exchange point.
Book 8 page 18
